Wednesday, August 03, 2005

. . he and his dogs . .

BYJ has an immediate family of four members, including his parents and a sister who is younger than him by one year. It’s common knowledge that he has a harmonious and close-knitted family. The first time BYJ made an official visit to Japan, he made a telephone call to his mother just before the plane took off. He had called his mother to say the plane was taking off soon… The family was that close.

His mother had initially objected to her son entering the show business. But when she saw how happy her son was at being selected to play the lead in a TV drama, she gave in and finally accepted the fact that her son was an actor.

BYJ lives alone now. But up to four years ago, he was still staying with his family. And even now as he lives alone, he is still being spotted by neighbours going home for visits ever so frequently.

According to someone close to him, BYJ’s dogs are not at home with him currently. They’re being cared for at a dog training centre. It’s the top training canine school in Korea and it’s located just outside of Seoul. Our reporter immediately made some calls to verify this and the training school was friendly enough to entertain our questions. They revealed that yes, indeed, BYJ does have two dogs with them now. They also said that BYJ’s entire family has long been dog lovers, and BYJ’s father was just there to check on the dogs the day before (8th Feb 2005).

A few days later, after some research and preparation of materials on the training school, for the first time ever, a picture of BYJ’s dogs was made public in the media. A first for both Korea and Japan.

The dog trainer related the story like this:

BYJ first brought Clipper (the name of the black dog) there in March 2003.

I remember thinking to myself, ‘Hey, this person looks so familiar! Where have I seen him before?’ That set me thinking, and I took a closer look and realised he’s BYJ. He came here with his father. BYJ said that they had made their way there after getting to know about the training school from the internet. Other than training the dogs on the usual house rules, the training school can also customise training programs according to the clients’ needs. Right now, BYJ’s dog, Clipper, has already completed the basic domestic training, and is now undergoing the guard dog program. BYJ had explained that ‘because my parents’ home is in the countryside, we need to train the dog more for safety reasons.’

On Clipper (black dog)

This dog’s ancestry roots can be traced back to the olden days when the Roman army brought along war dogs when they attacked the Dutch. This breed was originally of hunting dogs, but was altered genetically by the Dutch; but even now, these dogs are still highly alert and very strong-willed, and they’re still being categorized as hunting dogs. (bb: not sure exactly what breed Clipper is.... sorry...)

On General, (white dog)

BYJ has another dog at the training school, it’s a white dog, a breed that is very popular in Japan now. It is only a three-month old newborn, and not named yet. But I (the trainer) have started to call it General (jiang-jun). I think the dog’s originally from Japan, my bosses brought it here from a dog farm in the Kanto in Japan.

The dog was fathered by a best of breed in the United States, and BYJ bought it right after it was born. He said that if only he had General with him when he was undergoing training in the United States last year. Through the tough training regime, the sight of this cute little dog would probably offer BYJ some mental reprieve. Clipper has a very fierce face, even menacing, and cannot be brought out for strolls freely. General is sweet-natured and BYJ can bring General with him wherever he goes.

BYJ’s father has always been a dog lover. BYJ’s love for dogs quite possibly is due to his father’s influence. His father would visit the dogs once or twice a month, and his mother would come once as well. The whole family seems to love dogs. Before BYJ got so busy with his work in Japan, he would visit once a month too. But BYJ is really much too busy now, even if he does visit, he would only stay for about an hour. He would often show looks of contentment and relief when he sees that his precious dogs are looking well and healthy.

When asked about his impression of BYJ

the dog trainer said, ‘Oh, he’s always wearing a smile, he looks very innocent and pure. Especially when he’s with his beloved dogs, he’s just like a child. He looks like his mother. His father looks like a cultured gentleman, it appears that BYJ takes after his father’s character.’

A child-like BYJ? Hard to imagine….(bb: Oh... i would love love love to see him playing with his dogs!)(chris: meeee tooo!!)

At the end of the session, the dog trainer said, ‘If BYJ’s fans find out about this place, would they be flocking here?’>